On Holy Thursday, local clergy members offered Communion and got down on their knees to wash the feet of detainees at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, even as the migrants were handcuffed and shackled during the religious observance inside the west suburban facility.
The faith leaders described the scene in a report to U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman, who on Tuesday ordered that the government cannot make a blanket policy that bans clergy from ministering to people inside the building while a lawsuit on the matter is proceeding. Gettleman ruled that the parties must meet to decide on a protocol that would allow ongoing ministry in the facility that has been a flashpoint during the administration’s controversial immigration enforcement operations.
“For me, I’ll be very honest with you, it was heartbreaking,” one of the clergy members, the Rev. David Inczauskis, wrote in a status report filed with the court on Monday. “It was heartbreaking to see these people wearing handcuffs and to see them also wearing shackles on their feet.”
The clergy members detailed their interactions with detainees in the report, ministering from around two people to 15 throughout Holy Week. They described giving out prayer cards and singing with detainees, some with tears in their eyes.
Gettleman’s order came as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed in November by a coalition of faith leaders that alleges that the government’s refusal to allow ministry inside the facility violates their right to practice their religion. The complaint came shortly after a class-action lawsuit alleged broader human rights violations in the processing center, arguing that the Trump administration turned the facility into a “black box,” with immigration attorneys unable to visit clients amid overcrowding and other substandard conditions.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but it previously said it “follows ALL court orders.” Government attorneys have said that the agency does not object to ministry in longer-term detention centers, but has drawn a distinction with processing centers that act as a waypoint.
“Religious organizations are more than welcome to provide services to detainees in ICE detention facilities. Even before the attacks on the Broadview facility, it was not within standard operating procedure for religious services to be provided in a field office, as detainees are continuously brought in, processed, and transferred out,” DHS said in a statement.
The judge previously allowed the faith leaders into the Broadview processing center in the days around Easter, the most important holy days in the Christian calendar. Gettleman has urged the parties to come to a settlement that would enable ongoing access consistent with what has historically been regular practice at the facility, but on Monday the groups said they were at an impasse, possibly setting the matter up for a trial over the question of more permanent access.
Attorneys for the clergy members have argued that the visits have not strained operations at the facility, which processes local immigrants before they are sent to longer-term detention centers out of state. In their report, they said the only problem that arose during their visits was ministering to people who were handcuffed and shackled.
An agreed-upon procedure for the Holy Week visits noted that officials would have discretion over whether individuals should be shackled, but the clergy members wrote that all detainees in the first group they saw were restrained.
“When asked whether that was necessary, the staff apologized, saying it was because they were ‘short-staffed,'” the plaintiffs wrote in their status report.
According to the plaintiffs, officials at the facility said the staffing issues were because “officers are being detailed to airports to support TSA.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have been deployed to O’Hare International Airport amid a partial government shutdown that has led to massive airport lines. The shutdown over Department of Homeland Security funding has been ongoing since February, though President Donald Trump last month issued an order that he said would pay Transportation Security Administration employees.
“What purpose did the handcuffs and shackles serve when there is a half door between the detainee and the clergy, and an ICE agent is by the detainee?” the clergy wrote in their report. “The staff apologetically said it was due to short-staffing, but the effect was dehumanizing.”
In a government report filed to the court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Terman wrote she is “working to understand why those restraints were used and will provide further update at the next appearance.”
